


Just A Kid

by Gildedmuse



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Nicknames, One Shot, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 05:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18654106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gildedmuse/pseuds/Gildedmuse
Summary: Han's thoughts on Luke.





	Just A Kid

**Author's Note:**

> [Posted on LJ in 2005.]

Just Kida makes him sound like he's five.  
  
Hells, when Luke first climbed aboard all ready and eager and big blue eyes he could have been five. The way he pouted, lower lip stuck out in defiance and dirty locks of blond falling over his face like he'd just been caught doing something wrong reminded Han of a child.  Before Han knew anything about him he was already calling him kid - the perfect nickname for someone as young as Luke.  
  
He gets upset about it, just like a kid would too. He tells Han he is certainly not, pouting and kicking at the floor all the while, and it's all Han can do not to laugh in his face. It's true that Luke isn't a child, isn't some five year old trailing after Ben like a lost puppy, but he does an awfully good impression. No, Han knows that Luke isn't a kid. He's much too tall and handsome to be a young, awkward teenage human and, as whiney as he can be, he is dedicated at least ten times that much. But Han calls him kid anyway - at least until he can think of something more fitting.  
  
Kid makes him sound like a baby brother.  
  
Han didn't have anything to base it on, but if he had a baby brother he was betting he'd be named Luke. Always trying to impress him, just like those little younglings running around the shopping bazaars of Alderaan, trying to show their big brothers what they can do. That's what Han is reminded of every time Luke looks at him with that 'I can, too' look glowing on his face. The one that is always followed by the kid doing something so stupid that Han invariably has to save him, no matter how many times Han says to himself he's just going to up and leave Luke to take care of himself. Of course, every time he says something like that, Luke dares him to leave, saying he can take care of himself without help from some scoundrel (and Han knows who taught him that word). Then he does something even more stupid than usual to prove he's just fine without Han. If it were anyone but Luke, Han might think he was doing it to make sure that he stuck around but he didn't have time to think about that - he had to go after the kid again and make sure he stayed safe and alive.  
  
Part of the danger of calling him kid is that now Luke can't grow up because Han doesn't want him to. Just like younger siblings will always be the babies, Luke will always be a kid. At least, he will be as far as Han is concerned. Even now that he's the Alliance Hero he is still a kid to Han, and the more grown up Luke becomes the more Han calls him kid and the less Luke whines over it.  
  
Kid makes him smile every time.  
  
Luke is not a kid anymore, and every time Han calls him that, the man (not young man even) just smiles. Every victory is a miracle. No matter how prepared they are something always goes wrong. No matter how under-planned, something always goes right. 'Kid' is how Han congratulates Luke at the end of every battle - a sort of reminder that they survived yet again against all odds. 'Kid' is Han's way of telling Luke that he's still younger and less experienced, so Han still had the upper hand, even if he didn't. He would at least like to pretend that he could still stop Luke from growing up, that he was still there to protect him, even if more and more it seemed to be the other way around.  
  
Han calls him a kid, ruffles his hair and gets Luke to smile, which is a good thing because he doesn't smile enough these days. The rest of the Galaxy sees the Last Jedi as a symbol of peace and hope in the face of all the evils they have come to known. That's a lot of pressure for a farm boy from Tatooine. But when Han calls him kid, all the lines his face has collected disappear, and that is all Han needs to do for him.  
  
Kid makes him a stranger.  
  
No one can use it. They all call him Jedi. Knight Skywalker. Hero. Only those who are close to him seem to know him as Luke anymore, expect for Han. Han still calls him kid, even if his hair and eyes are both darker and his attitude is nothing like a five year old. Han is the only one who gets to call Luke kid, and he makes sure he keeps doing it for his own protection.  
  
Kid means he doesn't have to say Luke because Han is terrified that if he calls him Luke, then that will be the end of him. Calling him Luke means admitting that, despite every one of Han's attempts to the contrary, he has grown up and no longer needs Han. Even without the nickname it is already happening. Every day the alliance is in more need of Luke and Luke is in less need of Han. Calling him kid means that they aren't even on a first name basis, and there is nothing there. No reason for Han to stick around except for his own stubbornness. Han has it in him to just pick up and leave behind some overly eager farm boy he found on Tatooine and never managed to shake off.   
  
He could never leave Luke. He needs Luke. He doesn't need some kid. So kid it is.  
  
Kid makes him his.  
  
One little nickname that makes Luke giggle like a schoolboy and suddenly he is a kid again, leaning against Han's chest and batting his eyelashes like he's trying to flirt. And of course it's too cute for Han to do anything but kiss him, and even that is broken up with giggles and light swats and growls from both parties. It's hard to find the dark corners and rooms where no officials are waiting to drag one or another away for whatever reason, but they manage to.  
  
It's in these little emergency hideaways that Luke tells Han how much he misses him and needs him, and Han just smiles and kisses his Luke so that he'll shut up and they can move onto the important stuff. The rest of the Galaxy can hold itself together for a few minutes while Han takes back what was his to begin with. Calling him kid is his way of telling everyone that Luke is his, and was his before they even knew who the great, last, Jedi Knight Skywalker was. He calls him kid less now, uses it only when he wants Luke to remember all of that. It has become Han's keyword for how much Luke means, and without him ever explaining the difference between this time and all the other times Luke understands. His eyes go light and soft and the way he smiles at Han is the way he smiles only for Han.    
  
And while Luke is telling Han how much he needs him, Han is ruffling his hair and calling him Kid, and everything is right.


End file.
